Videocast lesson is equally effective as traditional classroom lecture in teaching point-of-care ultrasonography to novice medical students

Introduction: In a crowded medical curriculum, the training of medical students in new skills through classroom-based teaching has inherent time constraints. Aim: In this study, we aim to evaluate whether videocast lesson for... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction: In a crowded medical curriculum, the training of medical students in new skills through classroom-based teaching has inherent time constraints. Aim: In this study, we aim to evaluate whether videocast lesson for teaching point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) result in similar knowledge improvement compared with the traditional classroom lecture. Methods: Undergraduate medical students of the second and third periods of our curriculum (total of 12 periods), without previous knowledge in ultrasonography and anatomy of the topics covered in the course were randomly assigned to 3 groups. All groups attended a 120-minutes hands-on bedside ultrasound training sessions. In first group, students attended a 30-minute classroom lectures (CRL) and a second group watched video prerecorded lectures (VRL). Finally, a third group of students only attended the hands-on sessions (HS). The topics ultrasound physics and knobology, ultrasonography of the lung, aorta, urinary tract and biliar tract were covered by the same instructor (MGB) in the classroom and videocast lectures. All the groups were subjected to a pre- and post-course assessments (each with 25 multiple-choice questions) and post-course objective structures clinical examination (OSCE) of the 4 specified topics. Results: Seventy students participated in the study. The scores (0 to 100 points) of the pre-test among the three groups did not differ significantly (CRL= 43,7±12,0; VRL= 45,6±10,5; HS= 45,7±10,4; p>0,05). Comparatively to the pre-test scores, the post-test scores were statistical different in the CRL (43,7±12,0 vs. 83,3±8,8; p <0,001) and VRL (45,6±10,5 vs. 82,2± 7,9) groups, but not in the HS (45,7±10,4 vs. 68,8±9,2; p>0,05 ) group. Additionally, the post-test scores of the CRL (83,3±8) and VRL (82,2± 7,9) groups were significantly different compared to the HS group (68,8±9,2) (p<0,05). The OSCE scores for the 4 specific topics were similar between the CRL and VRL groups and inferior in the topics lung and urinary tract in the HS group. Conclusion: Our data suggest that video cast lessons are equally effective to traditional classroom lectures in teaching of POCUS and that both methodologies are superior to only hands-on training, with the benefits of being time saving and having greater flexibility for the novice medical students.